Morning Notes: Edstrom, Metsa, Bentley
While the New York Rangers have had a greatly disappointing season overall, this season has nonetheless been one where a few of the team’s younger players have taken real steps forward. While the rapid growth of star prospect Gabe Perreault, and the resurgence of 2020 No. 1 overall pick Alexis Lafreniere, have drawn the headlines, the Rangers are also benefiting from the development of the team’s younger role players. One player occupying that status who has taken a real step forward this season is big Swedish forward Adam Edstrom.
Edstrom, 25, has earned enough of the trust of head coach Mike Sullivan that he was kept in the team’s lineup as a fourth-line center over Juuso Parssinen, despite the fact that Edstrom has not played center since joining the North American professional ranks. Edstrom occupied the role for the Rangers’ victory over the Minnesota Wild yesterday, and it’s worth considering what that development might mean for Parssinen’s future in New York. If the 25-year-old, who has three points in 19 games this season, is being held out of the lineup in favor of a natural winger in Edstrom, it suggests he may not be in the Rangers’ future plans. Whether or not Edstrom is able to stick at the center position could seriously impact whether Parssinen will play out the next year on his contract (through 2026-27 at a $1.25MM) with the Rangers or elsewhere.
Other notes from around the NHL:
- When the Buffalo Sabres traded ascending winger J.J. Peterka to the Utah Mammoth last summer, one of the key pieces the team received in return was big defenseman Michael Kesselring. While Josh Doan has since emerged as the key part of the Sabres’ return in that deal, Kesselring was nonetheless seen as an important building block for the Sabres. That’s what makes the recent rise of former Quinnipiac University Bobcat Zach Metsa so surprising. Yesterday, Metsa played next to Rasmus Dahlin, while Kesselring spent his second straight game as a healthy scratch. Head coach Lindy Ruff’s increased level of trust in Metsa is worth monitoring moving forward. The Sabres’ blueline has become increasingly crowded, and once Mattias Samuelsson returns from injury, it’s fair to wonder what Kesselring’s path to playing time might look like. The 26-year-old has two points in 32 games this season and is a pending RFA with arbitration rights.
- The Laval Rocket, AHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens, signed NCAA free agent Dillan Bentley to a two-year, one-way AHL contract that runs through the 2027-28 season. Bentley will join Laval on a tryout for the rest of the 2025-26 campaign. Bentley, 24, joins the pro ranks after a four-year college career at UMass-Lowell. He was an alternate captain for the team this season, scoring 14 goals and 25 points in 33 games. He formerly served as the captain of his junior team in the NAHL. The signing returns the Canadiens to some familiar territory. This isn’t the first time the team’s management group, which has deep roots in the state of Massachusetts, has signed a top player out of Lowell; the Canadiens signed Lowell captain Lucas Condotta as an NCAA free agent in 2022. Condotta now serves as the Rocket’s captain.
Latest On Carter Yakemchuk
The Ottawa Senators are in the midst of a playoff chase for the rest of the season, currently sitting four points out of a playoff position. As they look to build momentum down the stretch, they have been forced to deal with injuries to their defense.
Top blueliner Jake Sanderson is week-to-week with an upper-body injury, and veteran Nick Jensen is also out, albeit on a day-to-day basis. Those injuries have forced the team to tap into some of its organizational depth, but some Senators fans may have been surprised to see 2019 first-rounder Lassi Thomson recalled to the NHL roster, rather than 2024 No. 7 overall pick Carter Yakemchuk.
TSN reporter Claire Hanna asked Senators GM Steve Staios about the club’s decision to leave Yakemchuk in the AHL. He noted that while the team has considered recalling Yakemchuk, they are trying to be mindful of the exact nature, and timing, of how they introduce Yakemchuk to the NHL.
The Senators are set to play some extremely high-stakes games in the coming weeks. Based on what Staios told Hanna, the Senators organization believes putting Yakemchuk into their NHL lineup for those games would not be a move conducive to his development.
The 6’3″ former WHL star is currently the No. 1 defenseman for the AHL Senators, playing a heavy workload for Belleville, including on the power play. But Yakemchuk, who has 33 points this season, has only 46 games of professional experience. And while he has played quite a bit for the AHL Senators, he has not factored into the team’s penalty kill.
In fact, it’s Yakemchuk’s still-growing defensive game that is likely giving the Senators pause when it comes to potentially calling him up for the team’s playoff chase. David St-Louis, Lead Scout at Elite Prospects, wrote in a game report last month that Yakemchuk’s “defensive reads are a work in progress.”
When considering both what is best for Yakemchuk’s long-term development, as well as the team’s short-term interest in maximizing its odds of winning the remaining games on its schedule, it’s understandable that the Senators are, to this point, resisting the temptation to recall their top prospect.
While recalling Yakemchuk might offer greater upside than bringing up Thomson, there is also the potential that taking Yakemchuk out of Belleville to place him in a depth role in an NHL lineup in some high-stakes contests could hurt his confidence and disrupt the rhythm he’s developed at the AHL level.
Yakemchuk, who has scored six points in his last two games, will almost certainly be a major part of the Senators’ future. Keeping him in the AHL, at least for now, requires considerable patience. But it could also be one that most directly aids Yakemchuk’s development.
Lightning’s Declan Carlile Out Four To Five Weeks With Injury
The Tampa Bay Lightning announced that defenseman Declan Carlile will be sidelined for a four- to-five-week period as the result of a lower-body injury. Carlile was placed on injured reserve earlier today.
Today’s news is an unfortunate development for an ascending player who is in the midst of the best season of his professional career. The 6’3″ defenseman was signed by the Lightning as an undrafted college free agent out of Merrimack close to the end of the 2021-22 season. He developed with the Lightning’s AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch, for the next three full seasons, playing only a small handful of games at the NHL level.
Entering this season, Carlile had just four career games played at the NHL level, but had become a dependable all-around defenseman at the AHL level. This year represents the most significant step forward in Carlile’s pro career, as he has set a career-high with 38 games played at the NHL level, compared to just 16 in the AHL.
His role in the NHL isn’t what it is in the AHL, as he’s largely a reserve player for the Lightning, averaging under 15 minutes of ice time per game. But he has gotten some time on the penalty kill (1:09 per game) and is slowly but surely carving out a place in the NHL.
This injury costs Carlile the chance to skate in what are likely to be high-stakes games for the Lightning as they chase an Atlantic Division title. It also has some financial ramifications for both Carlile and the Lightning. While this injury doesn’t affect what kind of free agent Carlile will be in the summer (there are not enough NHL games left in the season for Carlile to avoid Group-VI UFA status, even if he was healthy), it does cost him the chance to showcase his talents in what are likely to be some of the most important games of the Lightning’s season.
While he still has enough runway to return in time for the playoffs, Carlile would surely be better-positioned to enter the open market were he at full health. In Carlile’s absence, the Lightning are likely to rely more heavily on their existing core of veteran defensemen, an area that is already an area of strength for the team.
Red Wings Activate David Perron
The Detroit Red Wings announced in advance of their game tonight against the Dallas Stars that they have activated veteran forward David Perron off of injured reserve. Perron has been out since late January after undergoing sports hernia surgery.
Perron joins a Red Wings forward corps that has been dealing with significant injury issues in recent weeks. The team’s top two centers, Dylan Larkin and Andrew Copp, are injured, as are Michael Brandsegg-Nygard and Michael Rasmussen. Both Larkin and Copp are week-to-week with lower-body injuries, while Rasmussen is set to miss at least a week with an undisclosed injury. Brandsegg-Nygard is out on a day-to-day basis.
While Perron, a natural winger, won’t be able to assist the team down the middle, where much of the injury damage to the lineup has been sustained, his return will nonetheless strengthen the club’s middle-six. The 37-year-old, who was acquired from the Ottawa Senators at the trade deadline for a conditional fourth-round pick, is beginning his second stint with the Red Wings. He also played for the team in 2022-23 and 2023-24.
Perron scored at a healthy pace as a Red Wing, notching 56 points in his first campaign in Michigan and 47 points in his second. He hasn’t been able to reach those heights as a member of the Senators, scoring just 16 points in 43 games last season. This season, he has 25 points in 49 games.
A veteran of over 1,200 NHL games, Perron is likely to take a role somewhere in the middle of Detroit’s forward lineup, and will look to help them secure a playoff spot in a hotly contested Atlantic Division. Detroit is currently 36-23-7, which is good for 79 points and slots them in the conference’s second wild card position. But they are only two points ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets, who hold a game in hand and have been in excellent form since hiring Rick Bowness as head coach.
While the injuries to Detroit’s centers are sure to make more of a difference for the club’s playoff hopes, getting Perron back from injury is nonetheless a step in the right direction in terms of health for a team itching to end a lengthy postseason drought.
Sam Reinhart To Miss At Least Four Games With Injury
Florida Panthers star forward Sam Reinhart will miss at least the team’s next four games as he manages an undisclosed injury, per team reporter Jameson Olive. Reinhart missed Florida’s game on March 10 with an undisclosed injury, but returned to play in the team’s victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday.
Head coach Paul Maurice said Reinhart is currently dealing with “more than one thing,” and when asked about the severity of Reinhart’s injury, said “there’s a big spectrum there.” The Panthers sit nine points behind the Boston Bruins for the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spot, and despite a three-game win streak, appear set to miss the postseason after three consecutive runs to the Stanley Cup Final, and two championships. Reinhart’s injury is likely to further decrease the Panthers’ already slim playoff hopes.
Florida has been ravaged by injuries this season. The list of Panthers currently injured includes captain Aleksander Barkov, star veteran Brad Marchand, top defenseman Seth Jones, and No. 2 center Sam Bennett. Bennett is currently considered day-to-day, and Jones is nearing a return, but the Panthers were also without Matthew Tkachuk for extended time this season. While there are a multitude of factors that have contributed to the Panthers’ on-ice decline this season, perhaps none is more significant than injuries.
With Reinhart on an uncertain return timeline, it’s possible the Panthers will face the decision over whether or not to shut down their star goal scorer for the rest of the season at some point in the near future. There have been no reports of that being the case, but for teams playing out the final stretch of a lost season, those kinds of decisions are not uncommon.
Despite the Panthers’ decline, Reinhart has been his normal self this season, producing at a strong rate (61 points in 64 games) and playing in all situations. He’s Florida’s No. 1 forward in terms of ice time this season, averaging 21:17 time on ice per game, including a significant role on both sides of special teams. While Barkov typically gets the most amount of attention for his two-way brilliance, Reinhart has become one of the league’s most dependable players in his own right.
With Reinhart, and most of the rest of their core, locked into contracts for several years down the line (at least), the Panthers are likely to push forward with the intent of returning to true contention as soon as next season. With an eye towards potentially winning a third championship in four years next summer, the Panthers are likely hoping whatever injuries Reinhart has been dealing with stay confined to this season, and this season only.
Injury Notes: Timmins, Kaiser, Gudbranson
After adding two defensemen from the Winnipeg Jets at the trade deadline, the Buffalo Sabres are set to add another defenseman to a blueline that is rapidly crowding: Conor Timmins. Head coach Lindy Ruff told the media, including Buffalo Hockey Beat’s Bill Hoppe, that Timmins is about seven to ten days away from being ready to return to the lineup. Timmins has been on injured reserve since late December with a leg fracture.
With the additions of Luke Schenn and Logan Stanley at the deadline, the Sabres already have eight healthy defensemen on their active roster. Once Timmins is activated, they will have nine, and it’s not immediately clear where Timmins would slot into the Sabres’ lineup. When he was last in the lineup, Timmins played on the right side of the second pairing, next to Bowen Byram. The spot next to Byram is currently occupied by captain Rasmus Dahlin, and the right-handed slot on the second pairing next to Owen Power is taken by Michael Kesselring. It seems most likely that Timmins will enter into a rotation with Schenn on the right side of the third pairing. In that sort of arrangement, Ruff would have the option to dress the defenseman best suited for the night’s opponent – with Schenn playing when more muscle is needed, and Timmins when Ruff wants to maximize the skating ability of his defense. In 33 games this season, Timmins is averaging 19:14 time on ice per game, including 2:59 per game on the penalty kill.
Other notes from around the NHL:
- Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Wyatt Kaiser will be held out of tonight’s contest against the Vegas Golden Knights as he manages an upper-body injury, reports Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times. Head coach Jeff Blashill indicated Kaiser would be fit to return to the lineup in time for Tuesday’s game against the Minnesota Wild. According to Pope, Kaiser’s absence tonight “seems mostly precautionary.” It’s a notable loss for Chicago, even if it’s only a brief one, as Kaiser has been the team’s No. 3 defenseman in terms of time on ice per game this season. Through 61 games, Kaiser has scored five goals and 12 points playing an average ice time of 19:12. He’s under contract through next season at a $1.7MM AAV.
- Veteran Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Erik Gudbranson traveled with the team for their road game against the Philadelphia Flyers tonight, per team reporter Jeff Svoboda, though it is not clear whether he will be ready to return to the lineup in full. An upper-body injury has cost Gudbranson the chance to dress for each of Columbus’ last two games, crucial contests in what has been a furious playoff push by the Blue Jackets since the arrival of head coach Rick Bowness. The 34-year-old, who is a pending unrestricted free agent, has been limited to just 21 games played this season due to injury.
Utah Mammoth Reassign Maksymilian Szuber
Saturday: The Mammoth announced that Szuber has been sent back to the Roadrunners. He did not see any game action while on recall.
Monday: The Utah Mammoth announced tonight that they have recalled defenseman Maksymilian Szuber from their AHL affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners.
The recall was made just before the club began its contest against the Chicago Blackhawks, and was likely made with an eye to the injury currently being managed by defenseman Mikhail Sergachev.
Sergachev has been out since March 5 with a lower-body injury. With Sergachev unavailable for selection by head coach Andre Tourigny, the addition of Szuber gives the team an additional blueliner to work with in Sergachev’s absence.
This isn’t Szuber’s first recall in recent weeks for the 23-year-old defenseman, though he has not yet dressed for any games for the Mammoth. He has one NHL game to his name, coming in 2023-24 with the Arizona Coyotes. He’s been making a push for consideration for an NHL role in 2025-26, a development that has been underscored by his handful of recalls this year.
The 6’3″, 220-pound defenseman won a DEL Championship with Red Bull Munich in 2022-23 before crossing the Atlantic to cut his teeth in the North American pro game. He’s been a steady top-four defenseman at the AHL level over the past two years, and has had a strong season so far. In 50 games for the Roadrunners, he’s managed 10 goals and 25 points. He’s handling a solid diet of minutes for the Roadrunners, and is contributing on both sides of special teams.
While the Mammoth are looking to hold onto their current spot in the Western Conference playoff picture (their ceiling is likely the first Wild Card spot, given the substantial standings lead held by three Central Division juggernauts, the Minnesota Wild, Colorado Avalanche, and Dallas Stars), they stand to benefit if they can find a way to test Szuber in some NHL games down the stretch.
He’s a pending restricted free agent who will have the right to file for arbitration if he so chooses. If the Mammoth can get Szuber into some NHL games, they would likely have a better sense of how close he is to being firmly NHL-ready, which would then give them a better sense of what level of investment to commit to him on his next contract.
Additionally, from Szuber’s perspective, getting the chance to play in some NHL games could enhance his case for a more substantial contract this summer. It would potentially allow him to position himself in negotiations more as a player on the NHL-AHL bubble, rather than a full-time AHL talent.
Snapshots: Benak, Cruikshank, Heartlanders
Minnesota Wild prospect Adam Benak announced on social media today that he has committed to play college hockey at Western Michigan University. Benak, a 2025 fourth-round pick of the Wild, has elected to join the reigning NCAA champions, presumably for the 2026-27 season. Benak is currently playing for the Brantford Bulldogs of the OHL, where he has been one of the league’s most productive 18-year-old players. Of players his age, Benak’s 68 points in just 42 games ranks third in total points and second in scoring rate.
The move to college hockey will be the next test for a player who has found a way to be a productive force at the USHL level, OHL level, and on the international stage. Entering the season, Benak was ranked as the No. 15 prospect in the Wild’s system by the team at Elite Prospects, with scout Sebastian High writing that while he has middle-six upside, his “path to an NHL role is long and winding,” in large part due to his status as an undersized forward. Today’s announcement settles that the next step for Benak on his road to pro hockey will be the NCAA, and scouts will likely be curious to see if he’ll be able to translate his quality production from junior hockey to the college ranks.
Other notes from around the NHL:
- The AHL’s Hershey Bears announced that veteran forward Grant Cruikshank has signed a one-year AHL contract extension to remain with the organization for the 2026-27 season. The 27-year-old has had a solid 2025-26 campaign, setting a career-high for games played (52), goals (nine), and points (14) in a single AHL season. After a five-year college career, Cruikshank began his time as a professional in the ECHL, but after scoring 43 points in 35 games as a rookie, he quickly elevated himself to the AHL side of the AHL/ECHL bubble. Last season, he got into 31 games for the Bears, and this year, he’s been able to carve out a regular role in head coach Derek King’s lineup. He’s become a far more regular fixture on the Bears’ penalty kill, a unit that ranks No. 15 in the AHL, and it’s his development into a reliable defensive forward that has likely earned him this early extension. While he may not have a clear path to the NHL, he could look forward to a long AHL career as a penalty-killing defensive forward, perhaps in the mold of longtime Bridgeport forward Jeff Kubiak.
- The ECHL’s Iowa Heartlanders announced today that the league’s Board of Governors approved the team’s decision to voluntarily suspend operations for the 2026-27 season. In their announcement, Heartlanders owner Michael Devlin called the move “an incredibly difficult decision” but one that “is the most responsible course” as the team reviews options for the franchise’s long-term sustainability. The Heartlanders are the ECHL affiliate of the Minnesota Wild, and have players who are signed to, or have previously signed, NHL contracts on their roster, including Elliot Desnoyers, Cameron Butler, and Stevie Leskovar. Iowa went 36-25-11 last season but has fallen to 19-30-5 this year, No. 28 of 30 teams in league standings. According to HockeyDB, they rank last in the ECHL in average attendance per game.
Blue Jackets’ Erik Gudbranson Suffers Upper-Body Injury
Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Rick Bowness told the media, including team reporter Jeff Svoboda, that veteran defenseman Erik Gudbranson will not travel for Columbus’ upcoming three-game road trip after suffering an upper-body injury during today’s game against the Los Angeles Kings.
The injury limited Gudbranson to just five minutes of ice time today. The 34-year-old had a late start to his 2025-26 season as he was on injured reserve until mid-January with a hip injury.
The Blue Jackets did not reveal a full recovery timeline for Gudbranson, but that is presumably because the full extent of the upper-body injury is likely still being evaluated.
Should Gudbranson miss more than just this upcoming three-game road trip, the consequences could be significant both for Columbus and for Gudbranson himself.
The Blue Jackets have turned their season around since hiring Rick Bowness as their head coach, and are in the midst of a furious push up the Eastern Conference standings. The playoffs currently look like a very realistic possibility for the team, if they can sustain their pace.
Gudbranson has been a key defensive specialist for the Blue Jackets since making his season debut, and his efforts have helped propel the stunning reversal the team has experienced in its competitive fortunes for 2025-26. He’s the Blue Jackets’ No. 3 defenseman in terms of ice time, skating nearly 21 minutes per night.
He’s also a key player on the penalty kill, sitting just a few seconds behind Ivan Provorov for the team lead in short-handed time-on-ice per game. His 2:55 short-handed time on ice per game ranks just outside the top-20 in the NHL in that metric. While Columbus doesn’t have one of the league’s better penalty kills, it’s clear Gudbranson retains the trust of Bowness in key defensive situations.
With all of that in mind, it’s clear losing Gudbranson will pose a challenge for the Blue Jackets. It could present an opportunity for Yegor Zamula or Jake Christiansen to take on some of Gudbranson’s minutes in his absence, but neither is an ideal replacement for the defenseman.
From Gudbranson’s perspective, an extended injury absence would come at an extremely inopportune time. He’s playing out the final year of the four-year, $4MM AAV deal he signed in Columbus, and is set to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer.
While he will be able to offer interested teams a wealth of experience and some coveted traits (his size, physicality, and status as a right-shot defenseman), if he ends up missing even more time this season, his free agent case will be presented with questions attached. More specifically, Gudbranson’s trip to free agency (assuming he does not sign an extension in Columbus) could be dogged with questions over whether teams can trust him to stay healthy as he progresses deeper into his thirties.
It’s Gudbranson’s upcoming free agency, combined with his team’s playoff chase, that gives this development a clear set of stakes. The hope will be, for all parties involved, that the extent of Gudbranson’s absence is limited to just the team’s upcoming road trip.
Photos courtesy of Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Flyers’ Travis Konecny, Nick Seeler Return From Injury
Two veteran Philadelphia Flyers players returned from injury-related absences for the team’s game tonight against the Rangers: winger Travis Konecny and defenseman Nick Seeler.
Konecny is the more notable name of the pair, as he has led the Flyers in scoring each season for the last half-decade.
The 28-year-old has 57 points in 58 games this season, and holds a six-point lead over teammate Trevor Zegras for the scoring lead.
Last week, it was announced that Konecny would be sidelined on a day-to-day basis as he dealt with an upper-body injury. He missed the team’s victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on March 2, as well as their following two contests.
With his return tonight, his injury absence is capped at three games, a stretch in which the Flyers went 2-1-0.
With the Flyers clinging to slim playoff hopes at this stage of the season (their 29-22-11 record puts them seven points behind the Boston Bruins for the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spot, with a game in hand), getting Konecny back now gives the team a boost to its competitive chances.
Were the Flyers somehow in the Western Conference, they would actually be in playoff position, but their geographic position puts their playoff hopes in a precarious spot. For them to build any momentum to go on a run and challenge for a playoff spot for the rest of the season, they’ll need Konecny healthy and playing at his best.
The other injured Flyer to be returning, Seeler, isn’t quite as important to the team as Konecny, but that’s not to say he doesn’t play a useful role in head coach Rick Tocchet’s lineup. The 32-year-old is the Flyers’ No. 5 defenseman in terms of ice time, averaging 18:21 per game.
He’s a regular penalty killer, averaging over two minutes of ice time per game short-handed. He also adds imposing size and a physical edge to a Flyers defense staffed with other players (outside of veteran Rasmus Ristolainen) who are not known for having that kind of dimension to their game.
Seeler missed the Flyers’ last two games nursing a lower-body injury. While Seeler was sidelined, 24-year-old Emil Andrae played in Seeler’s former role on the Flyers’ third pairing, next to veteran Noah Juulsen. With Seeler back, Andrae will exit the lineup and serve as a healthy scratch.
That sort of development has larger implications for Andrae. He is a pending arbitration-eligible restricted free agent, meaning each game carries significant stakes – he’s playing to prove he deserves a spot in the Flyers’ future plans. Each game spent as a healthy scratch is a lost opportunity for Andrae to make his case for a new contract with the Flyers.
But putting the consequences of Seeler’s return for Andrae aside, it’s clear his relatively quick recovery is a positive development for the Flyers as a whole. Seeler, like Konecny, is a valuable veteran for the team, and if they are to continue to play meaningful hockey down the stretch, they’ll need to have both players healthy and productive for as long as possible.
Photos courtesy of Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports